Type II Diabetes and Diets in Caribbean ?

[avb3]

I have had Type II diabetes for 6 years now, which I control so well now that my doc said if he didn't know, he could not tell by my blood tests

That being said, I am anal about what I eat, and as a consequence, know how my insulin injections will react in most cases. If your diabetic you know what I mean, sometimes your hormones kick in and you go too low or too high for no explainable reason. I exercise, but not as much as I should. My weight is under control... I am only 9 pounds away from doc's "ideal weight", which happened to be the same as when I was 21.

So, now that you have the background, what are you eating in the Caribbean that is readily available? Most tropical fruits have a higher sugar content then say apples, although I do eat bananas regularly. What about whole grains such as oatmeal, flax seeds, whole grain wheat flour etc? What vegetables are readily available?

Finally, are you able to obtain your medicines in the Caribbean, or do we just need to take a lot along depending on our stay?

The intention is to spend most of the year in the area for a number of years, so I need to find a way to continue with my regime.

Thanks for any comments.

[Healer52]

At least in the Leewards (St Marten, Saba, Statia, etc) you can pretty much get whatever you want at the local stores (if you don't mind changing brands). On St. Marten the big grocery store (Grand Marche) is like any big grocery in N. America....the meat cutter will also cryovac your meat for you.

And a compliant diet in the carib isn't a problem: I've never seen so many diabetic patients (along with something else chronic) as there. You'll be ahead of the curve managing your condition, though.

[avb3]

Thanks Healer52... I know the potential consequences of Type II, and as far as I can, I am trying to avoid them by doing the right things.

I guess I am not so worried about the brand name products, as we tend to avoid most of them, staying with fresh/dried produce and making most things from scratch. Call it a frugal streak and knowing what is really going into things .

So what you are saying, if I understand correctly, access to carrots, broccolli, cauliflower or brussel sprouts is NOT a problem? Beans I would expect be available in most places.

What about brown rice? It seems the world wants to eat the white stuff and you can get in any variety of ways, but even here it took me a while to get a good source for brown rice.

Thanks again, and any further input is appreciated, from anyone.

[rebel heart]

I'm not diabetic but I watch my glycemic indexes pretty carefully. I go through a lot of whey protein, almonds, prunes, and other items of that sort that are really low on the gi scale. Pasta and anything but sprouted grain bread is completely off the menu.

Brown rice won't store for extremely long periods of time very well, but we're talking mega months. We burn through it quicker than it can go bad.

One thing I'd definitely try to use instead of rice, and as a general dietary ingredient is quinoa. Lots of protein, great for you, healthy, low gi, doesn't take much water, etc. If you can use rice, you can generally use quinoa and it's healthier. Cheap too.

Good luck man, glad you got your type2 under control.

[Healer52]

LOL, my wife and I joke that quinoa just keeps growing in the pot, in the icebox....a little goes a LONG way.

As far as durable vegetables go, they're certainly available in the big stores. The smaller islands, though, usually have "grocery day" when the deliveries from the bigger islands happen...thats the day you want to go shopping for (especially) fresh and perishables. I'm not too sure about brown rice, but I know I've seen it on Saba..there are 4 or 5 grocery stores on that little island, however, and you may have to look around for it. On St Marten? Not a problem.

Also, you might ask the locals who's growing fresh foods. Get your stuff right out of the ground and enjoy!

[maxingout]

At least fifty percent of my patients are diabetic, and I have been treating diabetic eye disease for more than thirty years. 5% of diabetics become legally blind, and the common thread to blindness, renal failure, and other diabetic complications is the combination of diabetes and uncontrolled high blood pressure.

Just about all of my diabetic patients with poor vision who are also on hemodialysis have a problem with high blood pressure. Uncontrolled hypertension accelerates diabetic complications - like riding in a time machine to a very bad destination - renal failure and blindness.

In my experience, it's just as important to have normal or low blood pressure if you want to live long and prosper with diabetes. I would watch my blood pressure like a hawk when I was out cruising. You can tolerate episodes of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia for a long time, but if you have uncontrolled hypertension, there is rapid and irreversible damage to your eyes and kidneys. Uncontrolled hypertension in a diabetic puts you on the fast track to blindness and renal failure.

Do a good job with your diet, and use hypoglycemic agents as needed, but don't forget about your blood pressure if you want to live long and prosper.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by maxingout

...Do a good job with your diet, and use hypoglycemic agents as needed, but don't forget about your blood pressure if you want to live long and prosper.

Thanks, and yes I am quite aware of the blood pressure issue. Very fortunately I regularly get a 120/60 or 115/58 type of reading when I get my checkups. But I never thought of getting a blood pressure monitor as it always has been good; guess I should re-evaluate that one when cruising (and here I thought I just needed to upgrade my fishing gear! lol)

[Hud3]

Healer52's advice is on target for the more urbane islands. When you reach the smaller, less developed countries that don't have super markets, you may see periodic shortages of some of the shelf products you're used to, as well as some of the imported vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, Romaine lettuce, zuccini,celery, etc. They come in the container ships, and can be plentiful or scarce, depending when you're shopping.

What you will find in abundance in the local open-air markets are root vegetables (yams, sweet potatoes, tania, and others I can't identify), avocados in season, green beans, pumpkins, carrots, onions, green onions (locally called "chives"), sweet peppers, hot peppers, plantains, and christophenes. Local fruits (in season) are grapefruit and oranges, bananas of all descriptions, sugar apples, soursop, limes, passionfruit, maumee, watermelon, mangoes, maybe wax apples.

Some of these are locally grown on the smaller islands, but Dominica and St. VIncent are huge exporters to the other eastern Caribbean islands. We look forward to the produce boat from Dominica every Tuesday.

[speciald@ocens.]

Our insurance provides me with 6 months of my meds before we leave for the Caribbean afetr a special request. Most islands require a local MD prescription to refill.

[YOGAO]

You can do it with a little extra work.

I am a T1 diabetic on an insulin pump. For insulin, testing strips and pump supplies, I get an extra supply before I leave the US (using a "vacation" override w/my health insurance provider; that's another headache).

I also have people who come to visit bring supplies and lastly, we have our mail forwarder send supplies to us.

For items like brown rice and whole wheat flour, we buy large quantities and then vacuum seal them in smaller bags. As noted by others, good grocery supplies are available, but not universally like you would have in a 1st world country.

Fair Winds,
Mike